


The Freckles On My Skin

by wyrdoftheweird



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: College, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Original Character(s), Platonic Relationships, Short One Shot, Tieflings, Warlocks, Wholesome, Wizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-25 23:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14389281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyrdoftheweird/pseuds/wyrdoftheweird
Summary: Sage Lokerus reflects on the best moments of his friendship with another tiefling named Cypress Amon. Sage learns to break out of his urge to push others away and embrace self-love.





	The Freckles On My Skin

I used to compare my freckles to a girl in the orphanage. I have long since forgotten her name, but I remember the halfling girl being covered head to toe in little spots. I didn't have as many specks as she did, but they dotted the most of my face, neck and my limbs.Silently comparing our freckles as I watched her chase the other children in the gated courtyard, it made me feel like I wasn't so different from everyone else.

I wasn't the kind of child most people wanted to adopt. I mean not even my own parents wanted me.The ideal child is like the halfling girl. A little, short girl with long brown curls, large green eyes and thousands of little brown specks. A lanky boy too tall for his age with skin as blue as cornflower and horns curving up from his forehead was not what new parents desired. Not even the desperate ones. Adoptees want a cute child to show off to friends, not a tailed freak.

I stopped feeling alone when I entered the Arcanium. The feeling of isolation melted away when I finally met Cypress. We shared a lecture hall table together for our spring trimester. It was theories of Evocation MagIc if I remember correctly. I had seen the pale-pink tiefling woman out in the campus quad before. He often studied outside on the green on sunny days. For a while, she and I shared a silent bond with each other, acknowledging each other's presence by never really talking to one another. Yet, on the first day of that class, she made a beeline for the seat next to mine.

For a moment I had only assumed that her intention was to cower in the back of the room like I had been doing. I didn't make much of it at the time. My hands and mind were occupied with doodling whatever images I could think of. Sparks of flame, eyes, cracked skulls and small daggers dotted a page in my journal. In the middle of filling small leather braiding on a handle of a blade, I felt a presence looking over my shoulder. I instinctually covered my journal with both of my hands. Cypress leaned back in her chair, more startled than I was. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude." she pushed back a stray lock of white hair behind a pointed ear.

My face was a deeper blue than usual. "No, I should apologize. I'm just overprotective that's all."

"Been caught by one too many professors?" she smiled at me coyly.

"Maybe. It's not like I'm not listening to the lecture. It just helps me feel calm during stressful lectures." My fingers lifted off one by one from the page until both of my hands slid back into my lap. Cypress leaned forward again, her thing fingers gently holding down the page. I looked away, not really wanting to see her reactions. I breathed a soft sigh of relief when I heard her say "I like them." I looked at her from the corner of my eyes. I caught her bright red, pupil-less eyes gleaming with delight. She pointed to a more detailed dagger which the hilt appeared to be made of bone. "I like that one especially." I started to relax and sat more comfortably in my chair. "Its nothing much. It's just doodles. I had a lot of free time growing up, so I taught myself."

Cypresses eyes lit up. "You taught yourself, really? I couldn't even see myself learning to do this without instruction." I shook my head. "No, its just not that impressive," I said, dismissively. Cypress titled her head slightly, looking at me confused for a second before smiling sweetly. "Well, its impressive to me. Some of the best I have seen. I think you should take some pride in that."

A smile weaseled its way through my tight lips. "Thank you. That means a lot to me." Cypress beamed at me. "You are welcome." she chirped.

The rest of the spring Cypress and I were inseparable. We were seen together practically every day outside of our classes. I would spend time studying with her or around the other friends in the Acranium.

Without her, I might have continued my life hiding in dark corners, my face was hidden in a book. She was a study partner, a drinking friend, a tutor and a mentor to me. Cypress made me feel less alone, less afraid of the world. Over time, I felt better with the concept of being who I was born as. My horns and tail were as natural as my freckles.

I still remember the warm nights we spent alone out on the green. The stars of the universe unfolded above use once every lantern of the campus exhausted its flames. Cypress's focus in studies was astrology. We had some crossover in our pursuits as I focused on multiplanar magic. I can still see Cypress lying on the grass, her curls sprawled out like the legs of a spider. Her arms extended towards the sky holding a circular map to the stars. The two paper wheels were pinned to the center, allowing her to rotate the map to match the rotation in the sky. I remember watching her point to clusters of stars, tracing her figure around the shape of the constellations.

"And that is the Fist of Kord." Her finger traces another in harsh, sharp and rigged movements. "And that is the Beholder Eye, but some people say its Vecna's Eye, but most people associate eyes with Beholders so that name is more common." She broke her lecture and rolled onto her side to look at me. "And what about you, Sage?" she asked, her eyes lit up playful.

My brows knitted together. "What do you mean 'about you'?" I asked as she sat up. She gestured for me to sit up with her. I hunched over, holding my knees to my chest as I watched her pull open the drawstrings of her bag and reach in. She took out one of her magpie-blue feathered quills and a corked ink bottle. She placed the ink bottle between us and dipped in the tip of the quill. She then reached for my arm closest to her and pushed up the sleeve of my robe.

Small blue freckles were visible under whispers of blue-nearly-black arm hair. "Let's see what your constellation is," Cypress said while hovering the inked quill tip over my forearm. I watched calmly as she connected the dots of my skin together into a rectangular shape with a small circle in the middle. She leans back and looks at her work. "There the Door of Sigil. Well, one of them at least." She smiled broadly at me, gently turning my arm toward me. "What do you think?"

I stifled a chuckle. "You are quite the astrograph. Soon, you'll be pumping out maps of the stars everywhere you look.

  First my freckles, then the small rings in wooden tables. Your greatest attempt would be trying to string snowflakes into a map of the night sky." 

 I felt the quill poke my neck. "I'm glad that you understand my ambition," Cypress said, jokingly.  Her other hand steadied my body from leaning away from here. "You still have a few stars on your skin. I need to map these out too."

 The strokes of ink tickled my neck. I tried my best not to laugh too loudly so late at night. The quill got the better of me and I squirmed like a child as she drew a more complex constellation. I could hear Cypress comment through her own laughs, telling me to keep still and do not try to touch the wet ink. After a moment she let me go and before she could even describe her constellation to me, I  scratched the side of my neck, smearing the ink. Cypress wailed a "no" that wavered from her laughter. "You ruined my handy work, Sage!" She couldn't stop her laughter, soon lying back on the grass, curled into a tight ball. "My ambition to map the stars on everything is gone!" She said in jest.

Our laughter mingled with our quips and playful insults until we heard the echoing of "Shut up!" bounce off the walls of the campus buildings. We covered our mouths like mischievous school children. We both rose to our feet, trying to stomach any laughter. It made it ridiculously hard when Cypress noticed I had smeared ink across my mouth and chin as well.

Our childish giggling settled when we arrived at Cypress's respected dorm. We hugged goodnight and promised to see each other tomorrow morning before our classes began. I watched Cypress pass through the door of the building before I headed on my own trek to my bed.

Every time I look at the stars, I look for the Door of Sigil constellation. It's not always there as the stars rotate with the seasons, but when I do I see more than a mysterious feature of another Plane. I can see the lines of the stars transform into Cypress's face. The sound of her laugh still fills my ears when I'm alone. I can feel her arms as she hugs me goodbye.

Even as I stand here in the middle of the ice and snow, the clearing of the pines shows me her smiling down at me. Although I am currently alone and feel much different than I did then, I know somewhere she is still is a good person and still has room to love me as she did then. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it and follow this account for more updates and other stories. 
> 
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